The lab primarily uses this forward genetic approach to identify genes not previously known to be required in development. They use the chemical mutagen ENU to create random mutations in the genome and breed potential mutations to homozygosity to create recessive developmental phenotypes. A combination of cutting-edge genomics and positional cloning is used to identify the mutated gene leading to the phenotypes. This turns out to be a relatively efficient tool for gene discovery in development (see Stottmann et al., 2011; Stottmann and Beier 2010). The Stottmann Lab continues to use ENU mutagenesis to create novel mutations and will increasingly employ transgenic lines to more specifically query various aspects of neuronal specification and migration. Work on this project is funded by the Wexner Research Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).